Question

In many businesses today, Excel is used in presentations. For example, when a representative is selling their product/service, they can have the statistics reflected in a chart. They can use the chart to demonstrate how the product/service will positively impact the potential revenue for the company.

Consider your professional role and how you might utilize your knowledge and skills in creating graphs and/or charts.

• What are some important considerations that you need to make in developing this visual representation of your data?

Answer 1

Important Considerations in creating and developing graphs and charts to represent the data

We live in a digital era. Charts and graphs, especially charts, are the most important tools to represent data and developing trend in various aspects.

A chart is a graphical representation of data, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabular numeric data, functions or some kinds of qualitative structure and provides different info.

The term "chart" as a graphical representation of data has multiple meanings:

• A data chart is a type of diagram or graph, that organizes and represents a set of numerical or qualitative data.
• Maps that are adorned with extra information (map surround) for a specific purpose are often known as charts, such as a nautical chart or aeronautical chart, typically spread over several map sheets.
• Other domain specific constructs are sometimes called charts, such as the chord chart in music notation or a record chart for album popularity.

Charts and graphs elevate your data by providing an easy-to-understand visualization of numeric values. While the terms are often used interchangeably, they are slightly different. Graphs are the most basic way to represent data visually, and typically display data point values over a duration of time. Charts are a bit more complex, as they allow you to compare pieces of a data set relative to the other data in that set. Charts are also considered more visual than graphs, since they often take a different shape than a generic x- and y-axis.

People often use charts and graphs in presentations to give management, client, or team members a quick snapshot into progress or results. You can create a chart or graph to represent nearly any kind of quantitative data — doing so will save you the time and frustration of poring through spreadsheets to find relationships and trends.

It’s easy to create charts and graphs in Excel, especially since you can also store your data directly in an Excel Workbook, rather than importing data from another program. Excel also has a variety of preset chart and graph types so you can select one that best represents the data relationship(s) you want to highlight.

WHEN TO USE EACH CHART AND GRAPH TYPE IN EXCEL

Excel offers a large library of chart and graph types to help visually present your data. While multiple chart types might “work” for a given data set, it’s important to select a chart type that best fits with the story you want the data to tell. Of course, you can also add graphical elements to enhance and customize a chart or graph. In Excel 2016, there are five main categories of charts or graphs:

• Column Charts: Some of the most commonly used charts, column charts, are best used to compare information or if you have multiple categories of one variable (for example, multiple products or genres). Excel offers seven different column chart types: clustered, stacked, 100% stacked, 3-D clustered, 3-D stacked, 3-D 100% stacked, and 3-D, pictured below. Pick the visualization that will best tell your data’s story.

Clustered Column Stacked Column 100% Stacked Column 3-D Clustered Column 3-D Stacked Column 3-D 100% Stacked Column 3-D Column

• Bar Charts: The main difference between bar charts and column charts are that the bars are horizontal instead of vertical. You can often use bar charts interchangeably with column charts, although some prefer column charts when working with negative values because it is easier to visualize negatives vertically, on a y-axis.

100% Stacked Bar Clustered Bar Stacked Bar 3-D Clustered Bar 3-D Stacked Bar 3-D 100% Stacked Bar

• Pie Charts: Use pie charts to compare percentages of a whole (“whole” is the total of the values in your data). Each value is represented as a piece of the pie so you can identify the proportions. There are five pie chart types: pie, pie of pie (this breaks out one piece of the pie into another pie to show its sub-category proportions), bar of pie, 3-D pie, and doughnut.

Pie Pie of Pie Bar of Pie 3-D Pie Doughnut

• Line Charts:  A line chart is most useful for showing trends over time, rather than static data points. The lines connect each data point so that you can see how the value(s) increased or decreased over a period of time. The seven line chart options are line, stacked line, 100% stacked line, line with markers, stacked line with markers, 100% stacked line with markers, and 3-D line.

Line Stacked Line 100% Stacked Line Line with Markers Stacked Line with 100% Stacked Line Markers with Markers 3-D Line

• Scatter Charts: Similar to line graphs, because they are useful for showing change in variables over time, scatter charts are used specifically to show how one variable affects another. (This is called correlation.) Note that bubble charts, a popular chart type, is categorized under scatter. There are seven scatter chart options: scatter, scatter with smooth lines and markers, scatter with smooth lines, scatter with straight lines and markers, scatter with straight lines, bubble, and 3-D bubble.

Scatter Scatter with Smooth Scatter with Smooth Lines and Markers Lines Scatter with Straight Scatter with Straight Lines and Markers Lines 3-D Bubble

There are also four minor categories. These charts are more use case-specific:

• Area: Like line charts, area charts show changes in values over time. However, because the area beneath each line is solid, area charts are useful to call attention to the differences in change among multiple variables. There are six area charts: area, stacked area, 100% stacked area, 3-D area, 3-D stacked area, and 3-D 100% stacked area.

Area Stacked Area 100% Stacked Area 3-D Area 3-D Stacked Area 3-D 100% Stacked Area

• Stock: Traditionally used to display the high, low, and closing price of stock, this type of chart is used in financial analysis and by investors. However, you can use them for any scenario if you want to display the range of a value (or the range of its predicted value) and its exact value. Choose from high-low-close, open-high-low-close, volume-high-low-close, and volume-open-high-low-close stock chart options.

High-Low-Close Open-High-Low-Close Volume-High-Lovw Close Volume-Open-High Low-Close

• Surface: Use a surface chart to represent data across a 3-D landscape. This additional plane makes them ideal for large data sets, those with more than two variables, or those with categories within a single variable. However, surface charts can be difficult to read, so make sure your audience is familiar with them. You can choose from 3-D surface, wireframe 3-D surface, contour, and wireframe contour.

3-D SurfaceWireframe 3-D Surface Contour Wireframe Contour

• Radar: When you want to display data from multiple variables in relation to each other use a radar chart. All variables begin from the central point. The key with radar charts is that you are comparing all individual variables in relation to each other — they are often used for comparing strengths and weaknesses of different products or employees. There are three radar chart types: radar, radar with markers, and filled radar.

Radar Radar with Markers Filled Radar

Another popular chart is a waterfall chart, which is essentially a series of column graphs that show positive and negative changes over time. There is no Excel preset for a waterfall chart, but you can download a template to help make the process easier. For a full walkthrough, read How to Create a Waterfall Chart in Excel.

Waterfall Chart Template for Excel 14000 12000 10000 750 8000 245 6000 900 4000 2000 Start Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec End

‌ Download Waterfall Chart Template in Excel

TOP 5 EXCEL CHART AND GRAPH BEST PRACTICES

Although Excel provides several layout and formatting presets to enhance the look and readability of your chart, using them won’t ensure that you maximize the effectiveness of your chart. Below are the top five best practices to make your chart or graph as clear and useful as possible:

1. Make It Clean: Cluttered graphs — those with excessive colors or texts — can be difficult to read and aren’t eye catching. Remove any unnecessary information so your audience can focus on the point you’re trying to get across.

2. Choose Appropriate Themes: Consider your audience, the topic, and the main point of your chart when selecting a theme. While it can be fun to experiment with different styles, choose the theme that best fits your purpose.

3. Use Text Wisely: While charts and graphs are primarily visual tools, you will likely include some text (such as titles or axis labels). Be concise but use descriptive language, and be intentional about the orientation of any text (for example, it’s irritating to turn your head to read text written sideways on the x-axis).

4. Place Elements Intelligently: Pay attention to where you place titles, legends, symbols, and any other graphical elements. They should enhance your chart, not detract from it.

5. Sort Data Prior to Creating the Chart: People often forget to sort data or remove duplicates before creating the chart, which makes the visual unintuitive and can result in errors.